Amnesia Follow-Up Outed as A Machine For Pigs

The next game from Amnesia studio Frictional Games has been outed - maybe - as A Machine For Pigs.

Did you know that some kind of ARG related to Frictional's next game has been ongoing over the past few days? I didn't, which is a bit of an embarrassing admission, but on the upside it means that I get to immediately enjoy the fruits of other people's labors without having to overtax my own rather flabby intellect. Anyway, thanks to those who were aware of this ARG and taking part in it, we now have a limited but nonetheless rather disturbing preview of what those Amnesia-making sickos are up to.

A Machine For Pigs? Yes, according to this unusual message dug up at nextfrictionalgame.com, which provides the title, a launch window of "fall two thousand twelve" and links to a couple pieces of rather creepy concept art. Also very interesting is that one of the recipients of this hidden message is "TCR," which according to the ARG results posted on the Frictional wiki is a reference to thechineseroom, the indie studio behind the haunting Dear Esther.

If this is true - if Frictional Games and thechineseroom are combining their talents to create a new horror game - I think I will not play it. In fact, I think I will set my PC on fire, change my name, and move to the Pitcairn Islands, just to be sure this thing can't follow me. Pending horror aside, the results of the Frictional ARG to this point are actually a lot of fun to follow, particularly when it gets to the line, "This world is a machine. A machine for pigs. Fit only for the slaughtering of pigs." Yeah, that's not creepy as hell or anything.